Curious Commute

I woke up this morning in my parents' home in Thousand Oaks.  My father drove me, leaving TO at 8am for Burbank Airport.  Burbank via Southwest Airlines to Oakland Airport.  Air/BART shuttle from Oakland Airport to BART.  Coliseum BART stop to Embarcadero BART stop in San Francisco.  Walk to the office and a hop on the bike.

With no kids or wife until Wednesday, I decided to add an extra 1,200 feet of climbing in the Marin Headlands.  The last time I rode the Headlands (with Chris), it was quite a different experience.  It was the tail end of a morning commute and the fog was so thick, we could barely see across the road.  Oh, and speaking of the roads, they were in midst of being paved.  We basically rode cyclocross, on 23mm tires at 110PSI, down an 18 degree descent.  Massively stupid, but a good story.  To top it off, Chris broke a spoke mid-descent.  Luckily, I had a spoke wrench and am an expert in truing wheels (thanks to my fat a$$ wreaking havoc on all my wheels).  Shout out to President Obama for the Federal Funds to pave these roads.  I'm not sure that this, alone, will be enough to get my vote in November, but its a start.

Going past this sign costs me $20 ... I have to replace my brake pads after each trip.

Today’s ride started as I passed a guy at the very beginning of the climb.  I stopped at Kirby Cove to snap a few pics and I snuck back on the hill just as that guy was approaching.  I probably stopped for forty five seconds and still held my lead on him.  Yes!!!!  I never saw him again.  I chased another guy in a Giants jersey for a few miles up the climb, but ended up stopping for more photos (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it) before I could pass him.

There she is in all her splendor.  GGB and Downtown SF from the top of the Marin Headlands.

I added about an hour to my normal commute to hit the Headlands, but it was worth it on this cold but cloudless day.  The rest of my ride was my normal commute home.  I pulled onto Saunders at the 2 hour 12 minute mark with just over 2,000 feet of climbing.  As I passed a neighbor’s house, I saw Marek in his driveway getting off of his bike.  I pulled in to chat and was quickly sorry that I did.  It seems that Marek went out for a ride, decided that it was too cold and turned around.  However, with me in his driveway on my bike, he asked if I would go for a quick Alpine spin with him.  Um … another hour and another 1,000 feet of climbing?  Sure.  Why not.  I have a 100k ride in two weeks and 100 miles in four weeks.  I need the extra climbing anyways.   Another 10 miles, 51 minutes and 999 feet of climbing in the books.

To add insult to injury, as I was stepping into the shower, I got a text from Jon (my regular commute partner) confirming our meeting at 6am tomorrow morning.  And Jon suggests that we do the round trip and ride home after work tomorrow.  What else better do I have to do?